StartUp SMART 2.0

Human Capital Operational Program 2014-2020
Priority Axis 3: Jobs for all
Specific objective 3.7: Increased employment by supporting non-agricultural enterprises in the urban area

The project’s main objective

The START UP Smart 2.0 project aims through its activities to encourage entrepreneurship in the South East Region by supporting the creation of new enterprises by individuals (unemployed, inactive, jobseekers) residing or domiciled in the urban or rural environment of the region that want to set up a non-agricultural business in the urban area.

Specific objectives

1. Promoting a positive attitude towards the possibility of starting out as an entrepreneur.

2. To develop skills and competencies of human capital in all 6 counties of the South-East region by providing an ANC-approved entrepreneurial training program and certification of 350 individuals in this field.

3. Improve and complement entrepreneurial skills and increase the chances of business success that will be set up by 42 selected individuals from the target group of the project following a business plan competition.

4. Providing financial support in the form of subsidies in the amount of 148,600.00 lei / subsidy, for the establishment and development of 42 businesses in order to create jobs.

5. Developing mechanisms to support and promote business and entrepreneurship in general at region level.

Target group

350 individuals (unemployed, inactive, individuals that have a job and start a business in order to create new jobs) who cumulatively fulfill the following conditions:

• have their residence or domicile in rural or urban areas in the South-East Region (counties: Galati, Braila, Buzau, Vrancea, Constanta, Tulcea).
• have completed at least gymnasium (at least 8 classes).
• intends to set up a non-agricultural business (with its registered office and, as the case may be, work point/s) in the urban area of the South-East Region.
• they haven’t participated in similar measures co-financed by non-reimbursable funds – participants in the project activities were no longer a target group for similar measures co-financed by non-reimbursable funds.
• have not benefited from de minimis aid in the last three consecutive years, which, cumulated with this de minimis scheme, would exceed the €200,000 equivalent in lei.
• Not part of the target group is the young NEETs (who do not attend any form of education and do not have a job) aged 16-24.
• ! Individuals setting up businesses should not be stakeholders in the structure of other commercial companies set up under Company Law no. 31/1990, republished, as subsequently amended and supplemented, at the date of signature of the grant agreement.

Project indicators

• 350 people selected to participate in the project activities
• 350 individuals participating in the Entrepreneurial Competence course
• 350 diplomas issued and recognized by the ANC
• 350 business plans developed
• 42 business plans supported with a maximum of 148 600 lei
• 2 business schools organized
• 42 new businesses started
• 84 new jobs created

Important activities

A.3. Informing the public about the entrepreneurial training program as well as on the methodology for selecting the target group and the business plans to be supported under the project (January 2018 – July 2018)

• A campaign to inform the target group through social networks and search engines
• Press conference launching the project
• A methodology for selecting business plans
• Event to launch business plan competition

A.4. Selecting the target group to participate in the courses organized within the entrepreneurial training program (January 2018 – July 2018)

• At least 350 eligible individuals will be recruited / selected to participate in the project activities on a first come first served basis. There will also be a list of reservations in the event that a selected person renounces participation in the activities foreseen in the project.
• Of the 350 people, at least 50% will be women and at least 20 people from each county (Galaţi, Braila, Tulcea, Constanţa, Buzău, Vrancea).

Download the target group selection methodology!

A.5 Running the entrepreneurial training program (March 2018 – July 2018)

• The selected individuals will take part in an entrepreneurial skills course of 40 hours recognized by the National Qualifications Agency.
• The course will have a duration of 5 days (8h / day) and will help future entrepreneurs prepare for the opening of a business and identifying / obtaining the financial resources of its development.

A.6 Selecting the business plans to be funded under the project (August 2018 – September 2018)

• The business plan submission period is 4 weeks and will be announced early on the project site.
• Those who have not participated in the entrepreneurial skills course organized within the project but who meet the eligibility conditions can submit business plans for the contest.
• The assessment of business plans will be made by a jury consisting of three members (1 representative of the entrepreneurial environment, 1 representative of the patronage, 1 representative of the financial institutions).
• 42 winning business plans will be established.

A.7 Performing internships

• Companies with the same CAEN code as the business plans selected by the jury to receive funding will be identified.
• The 42 people selected will perform an internship that will last 40 hours (4 hours per day for 10 days).

A.8 The provision by the entrepreneur scheme manager of personalized counseling / mentoring / mentoring services following the completion of the business plan selection process

• Each of the 42 people whose business plans have been declared winners will attend minimum 3 counseling and mentoring meetings.
• There will be 2 Business Schools attended by the 42 winners, where topics such as social innovation, business start ups and development, funding sources will be addressed.

A.9 Ensuring the start-up and running of businesses that will carry out de minimis business plans within the project

• Establishment of enterprises through which the 42 business plans declared to be winning as a result of the competition organized under the project will be implemented.

A.10 Supervision of business operation and development by the administrator of the entrepreneurship scheme financed (April 2019 – May 2019)

– During 12 months, the Entrepreneurship Administrator will monitor the implementation of the business plans funded under the project in order to achieve the objectives and indicators assumed by the declared winners.

A.11 Settlement by the entrepreneur scheme administrator of the amounts involved in implementing the business plans selected within the project(April 2019 – June 2020)

• De minimis aid will be granted in two installments, as follows:

1. The first part 75% of de minimis aid
2. The final part, representing the difference up to the total de minimis amount, after the beneficiary demonstrates that he / she has made at least 30% of the initial tranche of his / her current activity within 12 months of setting up.

A.12 Monitoring the sustainability of business operation and development financed (July 2020 – December 2020)

We will verify compliance with the activities of the 42 newly established firms within the project for a period of 6 months after the end of the grant.

A.13 Developing innovative mechanisms to support and promote entrepreneurship in the region South-East (July 2020 – December 2020)

• An online platform will be created as a meeting point and connection between several categories of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, from entrepreneurs to investors, mentors, accelerators, incubators, hubs and co-working spaces.
• There will be 6 public debates, one for each county in the South-East Region, through which will be developed public policy ideas aimed at facilitating the evolution of start-ups on the Romanian market.
• A public-private partnership consisting of representatives of the business environment, financial institutions, local public authorities and academia will be created to develop, support and promote a position paper – the White Paper on Supporting Entrepreneurship in the South East Region.